With the passing of Lonesome George in 2012, it was believed that he was the last member of his species—which made it the third type of Galapagos tortoise to become extinct since the iconic creatures originally helped inspire Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in the 1800s.
Scientists believe that there were originally eight different species of Galapagos tortoises, though those native to Santa Fe Island and Floreana Island eventually became extinct. With the death of George three years ago, experts believed the Pinta Island lineage had also come to an end.
However, a recent scientific expedition has discovered evidence to the contrary, according to the New York Times. While analyzing blood samples they had obtained from the 1,600-plus tortoises living near Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island in 2008, a group of Yale University geneticists found that—much to their surprise—89 of the creatures had at least some DNA from Floreana tortoises.
In fact, some had genes indicating that their parents were living purebred Floreana tortoises, and 17 others were found to have high levels of Pinta DNA—meaning that some of them may even be directly related to Lonesome George. Last month, the scientists returned to the island. The goal? To find tortoises with this DNA and bring the extinct species back from the dead.
Populations could be restored to the island within 10 years
According to History.com, this startling find can be traced back to the activity of whalers, who more than 100 years ago released unneeded saddleback tortoises into Banks Bay near Wolf Volcano. It is believed that those tortoises managed to survive and travel to Isabela Island, where they interbred with the native creatures that called that region home.
Upon their return, the Yale scientists, along with colleagues from the Galapagos Conservancy, split up into nine three-person teams and searched a 20 square mile area near the volcano. They were able to find both a male and female with Pinta genes, and one male and four females that had Floreana DNA. They told the Times that within the span of a few generations, they should be able to breed tortoises with 95 percent of their so-called “lost” ancestral genes.
“The size of this population is mind-boggling,” Adalgisa Caccone, a senior research scientist at Yale and the expedition’s geneticist, told the newspaper, adding that she and her fellow research team members are “optimistic that some of these animals will have high conservation value.” In a best-case scenario, they believe that they could at least partially restore the Pinta and Floreana tortoise populations within the next five to 10 years.
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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